Rotary contact for snap-switches.



C. D. PLATT.

ROTARY-GONTACT FOR SNAP SWITCHES. APPLICATION FILED APR. 24,1912.

1,037,525, Patented Sept. 3,1912.

A 770/?NEY UNITED STATES PATENT oEEreE.

CLARENCE D. PLATT, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

ROTARY CONTACT FOR SNAP-SWITCHES..

Specification o f Letters Patent.-

Appiication sled April 24,- '1912. serial No. 692,991.

To alt whom 'it may conce-m. y

Be it lrnown that I, CLARENCE D. vPLATT, a citizen of the United btates,residing at Bridgeport, county ot' Fairfield, State of Connecticut, haveinvented an Improvement in Rotary Contacts for Snap-Swltches,

f which the following is a specification.

I`his invention relates to electric snap switches and has for its objectto provide a novel rotary contact member so con-1 structed as to giveincreased flexibility and resiliency to thel plates of the'lower contactarm, the eitect of which is to improve the operation of the switch inuse and to greatly increase its durability.

With these and.' other objects in view I have devisedthe novel rotarycontact member which I will now describe, referring to the accompanyingdrawing forming a part of this specification and using referencecharacters to indicate the several parts:

vFigure 1 is Aa sectional View on an enf lai-ged scale showing my novelrotary o'ntact applied to an ordinary type of snap switch; Fig. 2,.aplan view of the rotary contact member det-ached; Fig.` 3, a plan viewof one' of the plates of the lower` arm detached; Fig. 4, a section onthe line 4-4 in Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; andFig.5 is an 'inverted plan view of the rotary member detached.

10 denotes the base, 11 the spindle, 12 `the operating handle, 13 thespring which 1s wound by rotation of the handle and 14 the locking andreleasing mechanism. These cated by 30. yEach arm comprlsestwocorresponding plates, the plates ofthe u per arm being indicated by 18andthe p ates Aot the lower arm Aby 19. The platesof the upperarm aremade flexible and resilient by cutting out metal from the center, as

lclearly shown in Fi 2, eac-h branch 'ofl each arm being provi ed with'a hole lfor a rivet. The plates 19 of the lower arm are likewise madeiexible and vresilient; by cutting out met-al from the center, thebranches being specifically indicated by 2 4 and 25.

The novel feature is thateach branchis pr0- vided with an eye for arivet at one side of the center, said leyes being indicated respectivelyby 2O and 21.V In use,'the contact quently, the portions of plates 19indicated noted that the left engaging portions '23, as

Vseen in Figs. 2 and 3,`are uponthe branches Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

'member rotates :trom left to right, conse.

24 of the plates, which are connected to the plates of-.the other arm by4means of eyes 2 1 on the opposite side ofthe mid-length of the plate,that'isecat the right of the center,

and that the engaging portions=23 at the right end of the' plate areupon branches -25 whichare connected tothe plates of the other'arm bymeans of eyes 2O lying at the left of themid-length of the arm.' Theetfectof this arrangement ofthe eyes is to give an amount of resiliencyto theplate's that has not been secured by -any other con-` structionknown tov the trade. The parts comprisingv the rotary member as a wholeare spaced. apart and secured together as clearly shown in Fig. 4. y.Theeyes in both vplates are provided with insulating .bushings 26insulating.washers 27 are placed kabove andvbelo'w the plates of each arm and thearms-are spaced apart by` metal collars 28. Rivets 3l pass through theseveral parts and through eyes 29 upon engaging plate 30.

32 denotes a tube secured to the engaging plate in which the spindlerotates `freely.

' But two rivets are used and eachrivet passes through one ofthe holesat the midlengthof each plate ofthe` upper arm and through an eye ofeach plate of the lower arm. A high degree of flexibility and reper armby passing the rivet through the mid-length ofthe plates. A similar comstruction bein .impossible however for the `plates of the ower arm, Ihave succeeded in obtaining even greater flexibility and resiliency'4 inthe plates of the lower arm by placing the attaching eyeof eachbranch onthe opposite side of the mid-length from the corresponding engagingportion. p

Having thus described ymy inventlon, I claim:. l

1. A rotary..contact member for snap switches comprising upperand lowerarms siliency is secured forthe plates of theup- 65 by 23 are theengaging portions. A'It will be crossing at right angles, each armconsist-H ing of corresponding plates cut away at the center .leavingbranches, said plates being provided with contact portions and the ybranches of the upper arm and through'ther eyes of the lower arm.

2.9i rotary contact member for snap' switches comprising upper and lowerarms.-

crossing at right angles, each arm consist-4,

ing of corresponding plates cut away at the center leaving branches,said plates' being provided with contactportions and the CLARENCE D.PLATT.

yWitnesses:

' A. M. WoosTnR,

S. ATHERZTON.

Copies of this-patent may be obtained for ve cents eaeh, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. C.

